Ukraine claims that Russian elite paratroopers are refusing to follow Russia's human wave attack orders. 

This new detail about the Russia-Ukraine war was revealed by a top AFU official after numerous Ukrainian and Russian sources claimed that the Kremlin is suffering heavy troop losses.

Ukraine Claims Paratroopers Refuse Russia's Human Wave Attack Order—Here's What Kyiv Official Revealed
(Photo: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on Flickr)
Ukraine Claims Paratroopers Refuse Russia's Human Wave Attack Order—Here's What Kyiv Official Revealed

During an interview on Jan. 14, AFU's Joint Command South press secretary Nataliya Petrivna Gumenyuk said that the heavy losses are considered by Russia as expendable assault troops.

But, since the soldier losses are too "bloody." Gumenyuk claimed that elite paratroopers, as well as marines, no longer wanted to follow Russia's commands to continue attacking Ukrainians.

Ukraine Claims Paratroopers Refuse Russia's Human Wave Attack Order

According to Yahoo News' latest report, the Armed Forces of Ukraine officials the Russian paratroopers, and marines who refuse to follow Kremlin's human wave attacks consider themselves as elite troops.

Since going into frontal assaults are usually done by former felons and older reservists, these self-proclaimed elite soldiers and marines don't want to participate in the human wave attacks.

"At present in our sector, the number of units of the type "Shtorm-Z" [low-grade Russian units made of up older reservists and former felons, often committed to carry out human wave attacks] is falling," explained Gumenyuk via The Kyiv Post.

She added that since the numbers of former felons and older reservists are drastically decreasing, Russia is sending more paratroopers and naval infantry.

"But they consider themselves 'elite troops' and they don't want to go into frontal assaults like that," further stated the AFU official.

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What are Russian human wave attacks?

Ukraine Claims Paratroopers Refuse Russia's Human Wave Attack Order—Here's What Kyiv Official Revealed
(Photo: Marko Vucicevic on Flickr)
To celebrate the anniversary of Belgrade's liberation from Nazi occupation, the Serbian capital hosted its first military parade in nearly 30 years. Some 4,500 troops participated in the event, which was attended by both Serbian and Russian leaders.

Military analysts said that Russia has been reliant on human wave attacks ever since it launched its full-blown invasion of Ukraine back in 2022.

Human wave attacks are high-risk frontal assaults. This means that this strategy involves attacking enemies with overwhelming numbers of Russian soldiers.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner leader who was killed in a mysterious plane crash, said that the human wave attack is just like a "meat grinder."

Since this war strategy is very risky, multiple Russian and Ukrainian sources familiar with the Kremlin's activities claim that Russian forces have suffered very heavy losses.

They said that this was noticeable when Russia repurposed its 17th Tank Regiment, which includes the nation's most advanced military tanks, the T-90, being used as "tow trucks" to recover disabled combat vehicles.

"The fact that an entire tank regiment with potentially dozens of [Russia's most advanced] T-90 tank have been given the role of military tow trucks, is an indicator of the intensity of Russian losses around Krynky," explained the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN).

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